Franco Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino 2016
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James
Suckling -
Wine
Enthusiast -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Intense ruby red tending towards garnet in color, the Franco Pacenti Brunello di Montalcino has a floral, fruity and intense bouquet with underwood tones. Great structure, elegance and harmony on the palate.
Pairs well with red meat and game stews as well as seasoned cheeses. Open the bottle at least two hours before to let the wine breathe.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Flowers, such as rose petals, tile and stone with some cedar and ash, all complementing the cherry character. It’s full-bodied and chewy with a tight, solid palate and finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Juicy and delicious, this opens with inviting aromas of fragrant purple flower, ripe wild berry, underbrush and a whiff of camphor. On the savory palate, notes of licorice, blood orange and coffee bean accent a core of morello cherry. Taut, fine-grained tannins provide support.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The Franco Pacenti 2016 Brunello di Montalcino opens to tart cherry and cassis with more layers of spice, licorice and balsam herb at the back. The wine unfolds to show a classic interpretation of the vintage with a mid-weight mouthfeel and bright acidity on the close. This Brunello draws its fruit from a site with soils that are especially clayey, and there is a touch more textural richness as a result.
Other Vintages
2017-
Robert
Parker - Decanter
Among Italy's elite red grape varieties, Sangiovese has the perfect intersection of bright red fruit and savory earthiness and is responsible for the best red wines of Tuscany. While it is best known as the chief component of Chianti, it is also the main grape in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and reaches the height of its power and intensity in the complex, long-lived Brunello di Montalcino. Somm Secret—Sangiovese doubles under the alias, Nielluccio, on the French island of Corsica where it produces distinctly floral and refreshing reds and rosés.
Famous for its bold, layered and long-lived red, Brunello di Montalcino, the town of Montalcino is about 70 miles south of Florence, and has a warmer and drier climate than that of its neighbor, Chianti. The Sangiovese grape is king here, as it is in Chianti, but Montalcino has its own clone called Brunello.
The Brunello vineyards of Montalcino blanket the rolling hills surrounding the village and fan out at various elevations, creating the potential for Brunello wines expressing different styles. From the valleys, where deeper deposits of clay are found, come wines typically bolder, more concentrated and rich in opulent black fruit. The hillside vineyards produce wines more concentrated in red fruits and floral aromas; these sites reach up to over 1,600 feet and have shallow soils of rocks and shale.
Brunello di Montalcino by law must be aged a minimum of four years, including two years in barrel before realease and once released, typically needs more time in bottle for its drinking potential to be fully reached. The good news is that Montalcino makes a “baby brother” version. The wines called Rosso di Montalcino are often made from younger vines, aged for about a year before release, offer extraordinary values and are ready to drink young.